On his arrival in England, Captain Bullen found that he had been promoted to post rank for his services in Africa, by commission dated April 29, 1802. The Wasp was paid off at Portsmouth in July following.
On the renewal of hostilities, in May 1803, he was appointed pro tempore to la Minerve frigate, Captain Jahleel Brenton, her proper commander, having met with an accident which compelled him to remain for some time on shore. In that ship he had the good fortune to fall in with twenty-three sail of French vessels laden with timber and other valuable stores, bound to Brest, the whole of which were either captured or totally destroyed. He shortly after detained a frigate of the largest class, but she was ultimately released by the British government, in consequence of her having been employed on a voyage of discovery.
Captain Bullen subsequently commanded a district of Sea Fencibles, and the flotilla equipped in the Thames and Medway, for the purpose of repelling an invasion threatened by our late implacable enemy Napoleon Buonaparte. In June 1804, being applied for by the Earl of Northesk, he assumed the command of his lordship’s flag-ship, the Britannia, a first rate, forming part of the Channel fleet, but afterwards detached under the orders of Sir Robert Calder to reinforce Vice-Admiral Collingwood’s squadron off Cadiz. The part borne by her in the celebrated battle of Trafalgar has been described in our first volume; but in justice to Captain Bullen we must add, that although from her heavy sailing, which was remarkable on all occasions, she could not get into action as soon as some other ships, no effort was wanting on his part to place her in the most conspicuous situation. For his gallantry on that eventful day, he was rewarded with a gold medal commemorative of an event, the recital of which will ever excite admiration in the breast of Britons[1].
Lord Northesk being obliged to resign his command on account of ill health, Captain Bullen, after refitting the Bri-
- ↑ The battle of Trafalgar was fought on the very day that General Mack and the Austrian garrison of Ulm passed under the yoke of the claimant to an unlimited command of “ships, colonies, and commerce.”
